A method of, and a font for, representing the extended arabic characters in which a distinctive Arabic based alphabet of minimum constant number of letters would include characters that have unique non-varying glyph representations, detachable forms to render non-cursive strings, and generally symmetric outlines to facilitate bi-directional utilization. Each glyph in the new font has the core characteristics of its traditional Arabic equivalent so that words and text strings utilizing new font and method will closely resemble traditional Arabic. Unlike prior art Arabic fonts and the systems employing them, the invention introduces a significantly smaller font size and a platform independent font-only based character input/output method or system eliminating previously required glyph and ligature substitutions and allowing bi-directional and non-cursive rendering. Articles utilizing the present invention, such as computerized systems, transparencies, or language learning tools, can overcome much of the currently based system complexity.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for providing distinctive independent characters representative of arabic characters which are independent in an input/output system comprising the step of: providing distinctive letters which are uniform, having one glyph per character, either exactly or semi-symmetric and detachable when embodied in arabic lettering for use in text wherein said distinctive letters have substantially a configuration shown in one of FIG. 1A , FIG. 1B or FIG 1 C herein.
2. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein said letters include 140 unique glyphs corresponding to all needed basic extended Arabic letters, ligature, and diacritics and all their glyph variations as defined by a Unicode Standard.
3. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein glyph substitutions are needed to accommodate letters/ligatures glyphs shape changes as based on their positions in a word.
4. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein new glyphs eliminate a one-for-two followed by a one-for-one glyph substitutions such as for an Lam-Alif ligature.
5. An article according to claim 4 wherein said Lam-Alif ligature elimination reduces by four a number of keys required to type or input Arabic via an input device and produces a one key for one character relation.
6. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein each glyph represents characteristic features of a basic Arabic letter/ligature glyph and the characteristic features of all its varying shapes/glyphs based in traditional Arabic on its position in a word.
7. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein said glyphs representing letters/ligatures and diacritics of new distinct arabic based alphabets are uniform with a one glyph to one letter/ligature relationship as in English.
8. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein said alphabets are represented by a constant number of 140 glyphs compared to a traditional extended Arabic which needs a variable number of glyphs in a range of 400 to 600 depending on type or font to represent its letters/ligatures and diacritics so that a number of the glyphs needed therefor would not be dependent on type or calligraphy.
9. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein each new letter/ligature glyph is readily distinguishable from each another, and wherein all glyphs have symmetry, detachability, and uniformity as base and rule for their original design.
10. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein each glyph when flipped horizontally around its vertical axis will still be distinctively representing characteristic features of the same glyph prior to flipping so that each glyph is therefore either exactly symmetric or semi-symmetric around its vertical axis whereby in effect a glyph looks the same when looking to it from left to right or from right to left.
11. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein each new glyph when placed in a frame individually is designed to fit uniformly between two of six boundary coordinate values of a y-axis and placing dots or similar articles above or below said each new glyph is not restricted.
12. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein said distinctive letters are formed either as cursive or detached, non-cursive characters within a text.
13. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein glyphs that do not have symmetry in any form or position in the traditional Arabic can optionally benefit from a slight alteration of its symmetry to resemble traditional Arabic and therefore are semi-symmetric when alteration is based on whether it will display right to left or left to right.
14. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein new glyphs altered or redesigned with an observation of general symmetry and uniformity bases of design, new types or fonts will be produced that belong to the same category as of the distinct alphabets and that will yield its exact functionality.
15. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 whereby keeping our uniform single glyph per letter relation and starting from our base of symmetric design, a slight or major elimination of symmetry in few or all glyphs, when applied systematically or geometrically, will produce a variety of types or fonts and such types can be utilized as right to left or left to right implementations.
16. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 whereby keeping uniform single glyph per letter relation and completely eliminating or ignoring symmetry, resulted glyphs will resemble most closely traditional Arabic characters or their horizontal inversions in one of their forms based on their position in a word.
17. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 whereby keeping form single glyph per letter relation while increasing or decreasing the number of basic characters or keys.
18. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein words composed from our glyphs that have similar spelling but are arranged in opposite directions would be characteristically identical when viewed from either direction of said opposite directions.
19. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 whereby extra spaces are added statically to the left or to the right (depending on direction of writing) of all letter/ligature glyphs of the traditional Arabic which join with other letters/ligatures only from the right but can occur in all positions within a word thereby solving statically a problem of joining/non-joining letters and ligatures of the traditional Arabic as spaces are added to glyphs for Dal, Ra, Alif, Waw and their derivative variations.
20. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 whereby in order to display text from right to left or from left to right one would therefor only need to utilize two slightly different overall font implementations of the same glyphs.
21. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 whereby an optional Arabic glyph for Tatweel can still be used without loosing legibility of most characters.
22. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein diacritics in the new alphabets can be added adjacent to the letters and within the spaces produced by two adjacent detached letters so that letter or ligature glyphs look the same when viewed in a frame before and after adding diacritics.
23. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 if after including glyphs for some essential traditional Arabic ligatures such as Lam-Alif or new ones such as Alif-Lam to improve legibility or typing speed wherein such new glyphs observe general symmetry and uniformity and are added to the basic required characters to keep the one-key, per one-letter, per one-glyph relations of said article.
24. An article utilizing a method according to claim 1 wherein font-only based, system-independent character input/output solution or method is intended to facilitate the use of Arabic lettering on articles designed for Latin lettering applications with a minimum or no alteration of such systems' original design.
25. An article having a surface, said surface bearing thereon at least one word composed of distinctive letters representative of Arabic lettering, wherein said distinctive letters are uniform, having one glyph per character, generally symmetric and detachably embodied in Arabic lettering for use in a text.
26. An article according to claim 25 wherein said distinctive independent characters having substantially a configuration shown as one of either.
27. A method for providing distinctive independent characters representative of arabic characters which are independent in an input/output system comprising the step of: providing distinctive letters which are uniform, having one glyph per character, exactly or semi-symmetric and detachable when embodied in arabic lettering for use in text, wherein said alphabets are represented by a constant number of glyphs in a range of 400 to 600 depending on type or font to represent its letters/ligatures and diacritics so that a number of the glyphs needed therefor would not be dependent on type of caligraphy.
28. An article utilizing a method according to claim 27 wherein said distinctive letters have substantially a configuration shown in one of FIG. 1A , FIG. 1B or FIG. 1C herein.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
August 19, 1999
March 9, 2004
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